


Mako's New Workout Partner

by old_and_new_friends



Series: Rare Pair Challenge Fics [5]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Gyms, Injury Recovery, Light Flirting, M/M, Physical Therapy, Sparring
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-16
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-25 01:53:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30081666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/old_and_new_friends/pseuds/old_and_new_friends
Summary: Mako's finally been released back to light duty, but it will take some work to get his arm back to how it was.Mako wants quicker results, but against his wishes, his arm wasn't getting better anytime soon. The only upside was that at least he wasn't in it alone.When he pushes himself too far, an old acquaintance steps in to help.
Relationships: Iroh II/Mako (Avatar)
Series: Rare Pair Challenge Fics [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2168028
Comments: 6
Kudos: 25
Collections: 2021 Avatar Pro-Shipping Rare Pair Challenge





	Mako's New Workout Partner

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, this changed a lot from my original draft but I find this to be way more fun that the angst fic I had planned even if it took like three re-write (aka why this is late).
> 
> This fic was originally titled The Aftermath but that didn't fit the vibe once the story was written. 
> 
> Warnings: Somewhat graphic explanation of an injury.

Mako hesitated outside the gym doors of the UF's flagship. The UF had told the RCPD that they were welcome to any of their resources or facilities while the main police station, as well as most of their smaller stations, were being repaired following the attack on the city.

While Mako's co-workers had already made themselves at home on the ships, Mako himself had been in the hospital. He had only just been released for light duty and therapist approved workouts the day before.

Which was why Mako was here. He didn't have the equipment needed to retrain his arm muscles at home. 

He looked up at the sky to see the sun just peaking up. He'd have an hour or so before even the most energetic of firebenders were ready for a workout.

Hopefully the gym would be relatively empty.

Mako pushed open the doors and sighed in relief that his guess had been right. There were only five people there. A woman on the rowing machine, two waterbenders sparing in one of the bending rooms and a man bench pressing on the other side of the room. He had a scar on his arm that caught Mako’s attention. His spotter was watching him carefully.

Mako wasn't even going to kid himself into thinking he could do that yet.

Instead, Mako moved over to the machines on the other side with the first woman. Mako had been told to avoid any activity that would put a strain on his shoulder for the first day, even if nothing was wrong with it, as he’d taken a hard landing on his shoulder when he fell.

He carefully and hesitantly worked his way through the work outs given to him. He was starting to feel antsy though, as it didn't feel like it was doing anything. Mako was used to pulling more weight, but even as his arm shook with the effort of lifting less, he still felt off.

Mako huffed in frustration before pulling out his list. There was only one exercise left, a pendulum rotation with light weights.

Mako looked up at the sun, noting that soon others would be joining him. Mako didn't want to be crowded and, if he was honest, wanted to avoid any co-workers also taking the UF on their offer.

In his haste to get the exercise over with, Mako miscalculated and grabbed one of the larger dumbbells he typically used without thinking.

His left arm felt like it was on fire as he grunted. His muscles locked up and his jaw clenched. Mako couldn't for the life of him release the hold he had on the dumbbell even as his arm screamed in protest.

A hand wrapped around his own and lifted the dumbbell before slipping it free from Mako's hand. The dumbbell dropped back into its place on the stand as a hand rested on Mako’s shoulder.

Mako's breaths came out in harsh puffs.

"Are you okay?"

Mako opened and closed his hand a few times before nodding.

"Thanks," Mako said, turning towards his rescuer. "I wasn't thinking."

He was surprised to find General Iroh standing across from him, though now that he thought about it, the General had likely been the man on the bench press earlier. He recognized the scar now that he was up closer to it.

"Yeah, I've done that before," General Iroh said, smiling at him. "Don't push yourself. Is this your first time back?"

General Iroh gestured towards Mako's scarred arm.

Mako nodded. "Harder than it looks but also mind numbingly boring," he said.

General Iroh laughed. "Been there, too," he said. "Hated it with a passion."

Mako looked back at the weights with trepidation. "I think I'm calling it a day," Mako said. "I had one last exercise but that hurt."

General Iroh made a noise in the back of his throat.

"Sorry?" Mako asked, wondering what the other man’s problem was.

"I know that likely hurt like a bitch," General Iroh said, "but it's best to do things right the first time."

Mako blinked slightly at hearing the usually stoic man cuss. Though, he supposed General Iroh was a sailor. He looked down at the weights knowing the other was right, but really not wanting to continue. 

"Then maybe without the weights, just this once," Mako bargained. He wasn’t sure why he bothered, as the General wasn’t really in charge here. The man just had that way of speaking, as if you should listen without challenge. Korra and Chief Beifong were the same way.

General Iroh hummed, though whether in agreement or disagreement, Mako wasn't sure.

He did know the man didn't leave and instead stood at Mako's side until he was done.

"I don't really need a spotter without weights," Mako said.

General Iroh shrugged. "Just wanted to make sure. You know, if you want, I could help you. I had to go through something similar about four years ago after I got this,” he said, gesturing to his scarred arm. “I've got a few tricks up my sleeve."

Mako contemplated the idea, glancing at Iroh’s burned bicep as he thought. His physical therapist had wanted Mako to continue seeing them for the exercises but Mako hadn't wanted to continue going to the hospital. 

It would be useful to have the General around.

"Okay," Mako said. "Uh, same time tomorrow, General?"

"You can call me Iroh and I wouldn't miss it," Iroh said, before bowing slightly and walking towards the locker room showers.

Mako stayed behind to cool down a bit, before doing so himself.

Mako arrived before General Iroh the next day, which was odd as the General had been here before Mako last time. Mako looked around the gym, wondering where best to start.

“I was thinking about the arm extension,” Iroh said. “Just to start. It won’t work anything but what it’s supposed to do, then you can move on. Of course, you should be stretching.”

Mako rolled his eyes. “I was planning to,” Mako said. “You know, I need a spotter not a drill sergeant.”

Iroh held his hands up in surrender. “I’m just here to make sure you don’t hurt yourself like last time,” Iroh said.

Mako shot the man a look, before moving to stretch. “Do you plan to workout yourself?” Mako asked.

“No,” Iroh said. “Wednesdays are my lazy days.”

Mako nodded. That explained why he was late.

Mako started a light stretch, aware of Iroh’s gaze locked on him. “I don’t need a spotter to stretch,” Mako said. “Speaking of, shouldn’t you be doing so too? It won’t be much use if you go to help me only to pull your own muscle.”

Iroh hummed and Mako relaxed once his gaze was focused somewhere else. Iroh had a very intense stare.

With his muscles loose, Mako moved to start at the machine Iroh had pointed out. Mako had just gone down the list as it had been written the day before, but Iroh led him through the list all out of order.

It oddly enough made things easier. Mako’s arm didn’t feel as sore in the order Iroh took him through. Mako supposed the man did know what he was talking about.

“You can’t do this one,” Iroh muttered, staring down at the list.

“What do you mean?” Mako asked, peering over his shoulder. Iroh was pointing at the overhead press on the list. “I did it yesterday just fine.”

“Oh?” Iroh asked, squinting at him. “I thought your shoulder was hurt?”

“Not really,” Mako said. “I hit it, sure but I didn’t injure my shoulder. The nerves in my arm got fired, I’m trying to gain back motor control and strength. My shoulder’s fine.”

“I see,” Iroh said. “My mistake. Do you mind if I ask what did happen?”

Mako sat himself at the machine and looked over his shoulder at Iroh. “My brother and I were inside the giant mecha Kuvira had and we were trying to shut off the power source,” Mako said, leaning back in the seat properly. He moved to grab at the handles as he continued talking. 

“It didn’t work like it should have. I ended up having to overpower it so it would short circuit. It wasn’t normal energy though. It was spirit energy and it caused me to black out and left scars down my arm. I’ve been told they may or may not go away. I’ve been getting a lot of vague answers. I guess because it wasn’t normal lightning,” Mako said, avoiding looking at Iroh.

Iroh didn’t say anything, so when Mako finished his first set he lifted his head to look at the other man.

Iroh was staring at him again, this time in contemplation. He seemed to startle at Mako’s eyes meeting his.

“That’s,” Iroh said, tilting his head slightly. “You’re impressive.”

“I’m impressive?” Mako asked.

“Yeah,” Iroh said. “Not many would do something like that. I admire you for it.”

“This from the man who was jumping airplanes four years ago?” Mako asked.

Iroh grimaced and rubbed at this shoulder. “That wasn’t so much impressive as stupid,” Iroh said.

“So’s what I did,” Mako said.

Iroh laughed. “Maybe we’re both just impressive and stupid,” he said.

“Impressively stupid?” Mako asked, smiling as Iroh laughed harder. Mako had expected Iroh to be a bit uptight. In fact, the main reason he hesitated to accept Iroh’s offer was the worry the other man would treat him like one of his soldiers.

“That’s it,” Iroh said, pointing at him. “You’ve broken us down to our basic instincts.”

Mako shook his head in good humor before leaning back into the machine. He didn’t really want to keep going. He was starting to get tired, but he needed to get his strength and energy back and the sooner the better.

“We can take a break after this,” Iroh offered.

“I’m fine,” Mako said, even as his hand slipped on the bar. Iroh was next to him, but Mako had already caught it. His injured arm burned at having done so. He should have just let it drop then picked it back up.

“Are you sure?” Iroh said. “There’s no shame in stopping for a moment. You have to do all the exercises, but that doesn’t mean you can’t pause a bit.”

“I’m fine,” Mako bit out. If Iroh kept hovering Mako was going to have to find a new exercise partner. He wondered if Korra might join him here, though the idea of her seeing him like this had Mako reconsidering. She’d blame herself for it.

“Okay,” Iroh said, stepping back.

Mako finished his last set, his arm shaking as he did.

He jumped slightly as Iroh placed a towel on the back of his neck.

“You should rest,” Iroh said again. “You’re going to hurt yourself worse.”

Mako sighed but nodded. A break did sound nice.

They fell into a routine after that.

On days when Iroh bothered to work out, he’d do so before Mako got there. On days he didn’t, Iroh usually showed up anywhere from ten to twenty minutes late. Apparently, rising with the sun was optional for him, as Iroh explained he often just rolled over and kept sleeping.

Mako didn’t really get that. Rising with the sun made him feel more awake, though it might explain why Iroh tended to drag his feet in the mornings.

It was the third day into their arrangement that Iroh switched things up on him.

“It does you no good to forget to work out other things,” Iroh said.

Mako was a bit nervous, as none of the exercises Iroh ran him through that day were on his therapist approved list. Iroh must have known what he was doing though, as not a single one bothered his arm as they went.

Though the amount of hotsquats Iroh made him do had him questioning the man's sanity. If he thought he'd get away with it, he would have skipped a few, but Iroh's eyes were glued to him the whole time. 

At one point Mako thought Iroh was staring at his ass rather than counting with him, but Iroh had the right count when Mako asked, so he wrote it off. It had been a rather wild thought in the first place.

It was a week after that, when Mako’s physical therapist gave him a new list.

“Only when you feel ready,” she had said. “Don’t push it and don’t try them all at once.”

Mako probably should have listened.

He handed the list to Iroh the next day, not even hesitating to do otherwise.

“My therapist said I should be good to move on to these exercises now,” Mako said. He didn’t bother to mention her exact words. Mako’s medical business wasn’t Iroh’s business.

Iroh looked at him hesitantly. “Are you sure?” he asked. “You haven’t been doing the others long.”

“Yeah, she said it was fine,” Mako said. He was more than ready to move on to something new. He needed his arm back.

Iroh shrugged. “Let’s go then,” he said. “We can start with the free weight overhead press if you think you're ready for it. It shouldn't be too different from one of your previous exercises. The rest of this may need more work up too."

"Sure," Mako said, suddenly nervous. He had hoped Iroh would do the free weights last as Mako’s arm still wasn’t the most stable, but Iroh once more proved unpredictable with whatever his planning was. Mako knew he could have said no, but doing so would have made the other man stop.

Iroh reached for weights on the smaller side to set up for Mako. Mako released a breath at the realization. The instructions called for more but Mako wouldn't mention it for now.

Iroh folded the paper and tucked it in his waistband. "Ready?" Iroh asked.

Mako nodded moving over to pick up the weights. He lifted them just fine but when he went to lift them above his head, his left arm started shaking uncontrollably and, with nothing to steady it, gave out.

Mako gasped as he fell sideways. He stopped short of the floor as Iroh's arms locked around him. Iroh got a grip on the weights and helped Mako lower them down.

Mako's breaths were shaky as he sat there, practically in Iroh's lap.

"Okay," Mako said. "Maybe no free weights."

"Mako," Iroh said. His voice was hard and Mako turned back to see Iroh's face entirely too close to his own. Iroh looked pissed and Mako released his hold on the dumbbells as he scooted away slightly.

"Iroh?" Mako asked.

"You lied to me, didn't you?" Iroh asked.

"No!" Mako said.

The look on Iroh's face was intense. Mako felt pinned to the floor by the man.

Mako sighed. "I really didn't lie. The therapist said I could start in on those exercises when I felt ready. Well, I felt ready," Mako said.

"No," Iroh said, sharply. "You wanted to be ready. That's not the same thing."

"So I wasn't as ready as I thought for free weights," Mako said. "Sue me!"

"Mako you're not ready for any of these things," Iroh said, waving the list in front of him.

"What would you know about it?" Mako demanded. "For that matter, why'd you even involve yourself in my training? I don't need you here!"

Iroh stared at him a moment as Mako breathed harshly.

"I don't want you to make the same mistake I made," Iroh said.

Mako paused at that and looked up at the other man.

"What's that mean?" Mako asked.

Iroh sighed and rolled back off his heels until he was sitting properly.

"Look when that bomb hit my arm, it didn't just leave a burn scar," Iroh said. "My shoulder was burning from something but I didn't have time to see what it was. Then I panicked and jumped on those planes headed out for the second division. There was this moment when I jumped from one plane to the next and I heard an audible pop from my shoulder. It took everything I had not to scream and then I ended up hanging from Aang's statue for an hour."

"What happened to your shoulder?" Mako asked, quietly.

Iroh looked over at him and pulled down his t-shirt. It was only then that Mako realized, despite most of his co-workers working out in tank tops, Iroh himself always wore a t-shirt.

There was a mess of scar tissue at the top of his shoulder. He looked like he'd been butchered.

"I had torn my rotator cuff and I had to have surgery on it," Iroh explained. "Waterbenders aren't miracle workers. They can't heal something unattached."

"Shit," Mako said.

"Sums it up nicely," Iroh said, shrugging. "Anyway, I got cleared to return to light duty and exercise a few weeks later. Like you I wanted to get better as quickly as possible. I'm a General, they needed me at my top game. I got it in my head that if I pushed myself I'd get better quicker."

Mako frowned, realizing where Iroh was going with this.

"So, I walked over to that bench right there," Iroh said, pointing to the bench Mako had first seen him on, "and I talked my buddy into spotting for me. He wasn't the type to question shit. I didn't even put that much weight on it but I lifted that bar up and -" 

Iroh cut himself off as he shook his head.

"You dropped it, didn't you?" Mako asked.

"I did more than drop it," Iroh said. He laughed slightly but there was no real humor to it. "There was a sickening pop and I froze because I'd heard that sound before. Fire burned down my whole arm as my stitches popped free. My buddy knew something happened the second it did. He grabbed the bar before I even dropped it but the damage had been done."

Iroh fell silent as he looked down at the floor. Mako licked his bottom lip.

"I'm sorry," Mako said. "Were you okay?"

"They had to use a komodo-rhino tendon or something to piece my rotator cuff back together," Iroh said. "I had completely destroyed what was left of my own. Mako, I'm not trying to be a drill sergeant here, because screw those guys. I just don't want you to get hurt like I did.”

Mako nodded. "Thanks, you didn’t have to bother," he said. "Sorry for fighting you so hard about it. I guess I'm just being impressively stupid."

Iroh laughed. "I guess we both are," Iroh said. He moved to stand, lifting the dumbbells from the ground. Iroh turned his head towards Mako. "Out of curiosity why are you pushing so hard?"

Mako pulled at his drawstrings, not really wanting to admit what's been bothering him.

Iroh's stare was burning through him again.

"I can't firebend," Mako said. "At least, not from my injured arm. For a few days there I thought I wouldn't be able to bend at all. The healers think that if I can get my arm moving properly again, without the muscle spasms, I should regain my ability to firebend with my left.”

"Oh," Iroh said, moving to sit down next to him again. "You know what. Forget this, skipping a day won't kill us. There's a bending room over there, if you're up for it."

"I just told you I can't bend from that arm," Mako said, frowning over at Iroh.

"I know, but if this is about getting your motor skills back, don't you think you should get your bending motor skills back?" Iroh asked. "We won't even bother bending this first time."

Mako bit his lip as he looked from Iroh to the bending rooms. No one was in them this early. 

Mako nodded.

Iroh smiled as he helped Mako to his feet. 

Iroh led Mako through the katas and even though Mako still couldn't bend through his arm, he felt himself settle. He hadn't been practicing since his injury but Iroh was right. If he wanted energy to flow right in his body, he should probably keep up with his bending.

Iroh and Mako both stopped by lifting their arms overhead and bringing them back to center at their stomach.

Iroh held the pose longer, taking a deep breath as he opened his eyes.

His gaze caught Mako's and burned through him.

"Up for a short spar?" Iroh asked. "Then I think we should call it a day. Start back with your other routine tomorrow."

"No fire?" Mako asked.

"For now," Iroh said.

Mako nodded in agreement and he and Iroh moved towards the dueling platform.

Iroh bowed to him and Mako bowed back before the two took up a fighting stance.

Iroh moved first, punching down towards Mako's stomach. Mako pushed the punch aside and punched towards Iroh's head.

Iroh ducked under the hit before sweeping his leg at Mako's feet. Mako stumbled back but remained upright as he kicked Iroh in the chest.

Iroh's breath audibly released as he was knocked back. He hit the ground, but used the momentum to roll backwards until he was back on his feet.

The two circled one another, too far away to land a hit without fire. Iroh's eyes darted around trying to find a weak point on Mako. Mako's own eyes were locked on Iroh's.

Iroh's eyes finally settled on Mako's left foot. When he moved, so did Mako.

Pulling his foot out of Iroh's range, Mako brought it up across his body before bringing it back towards Iroh. The back of his knee wrapped around Iroh's shoulder and Iroh went down.

Mako followed, landing on top of the other man with his knee on his sternum. He pinned Iroh's hands with his own, and threw his leg over Iroh's waist to hold him down there too. He locked his ankles holding the General thoroughly in place.

"Impressive," Iroh panted, as he stared up at Mako.

"Impressively stupid?" Mako asked.

"Just impressive," Iroh said. He tugged on his wrists lightly and Mako released them, sitting back on his haunches.

Iroh sat up himself, still breathing harshly.

"Well," Iroh said. "Do you want to give it a shot? See if the movements opened something up?"

Mako stared down at his hand nervously, before trying to pull forth a flame. At first nothing happened, but then a shimmer appeared above his palm. It wasn't fire, but it was heat and that was a start.

Mako huffed slightly as he looked up at Iroh with a smile.

Iroh was smiling back, and something about the expression made Mako's stomach tighten.

Mako's eyes locked with Iroh's. The heat dissipated as Mako dropped his hand. He looked down and away from Iroh's gaze, which always seemed to burn with an unasked question.

Mako startled to realize where he was sitting. He hadn't realized he was still straddling Iroh and all but sat in his lap.

Mako moved to get up when Iroh's hand rested on his good arm.

"Mako," Iroh said, softly. "If the answer's no I promise I won't be offended and I'd completely understand if you'd no longer wish to train with me, but can I kiss you?"

Mako froze. "What?" Mako asked.

Iroh sighed and looked down. "I like you," Iroh said, laughing slightly. "I like you a lot. That first day I wanted to help you not get hurt but everyday after, I helped not just to protect you from your frustrations but because I just wanted to be here with you. I'm sorry if I've made things weird but you're more than impressive, Mako, and I want to get to know you more outside the gym."

Mako took a deep breath. "I was right," Mako said, as he released the breath. "You have been staring at my ass. I thought I was imagining it."

Iroh blushed and seemingly choked on nothing.

Mako laughed and bracketed Iroh's face, causing the man to stop his babbled stuttering. "You're more than impressive too," he said, pulling Iroh into a kiss.

Iroh didn't seem to know what to do with himself at first. Then his arms wrapped around Mako's back.

Mako pulled back from the kiss. "I'm starving," Mako said. "How about breakfast?"

Iroh kissed him again. "Sounds perfect," he said, pushing Mako to his feet.

Mako waited until they were in the locker room to ask again. "So did you or did you not make me do a ridiculous amount of hotsquats so you could watch my ass longer?" Mako said.

"Mako!"

There was a certain amount of motivation that could be gained from the right reward.

"See," Iroh said, "it's not that many hotsquats."

Mako stood from his last hotsquat and kissed Iroh for the thirtieth time. If the gym wasn't basically deserted they probably would have been kicked out for it.

Iroh hummed as he pulled away. "Shame I had to stand on this end though," he said.

"Shameless," Mako said, kissing his boyfriend again. "Absolutely shameless."

"Want to go spar before we leave?" Iroh asked.

"Sure, loser buys breakfast," Mako said.

"Deal," Iroh said. "Your wallet’s going to regret that."

"Is it really?" Mako said. "Last time I checked we're twelve to seven in my favor."

Iroh made a face at him as they took up stances across from each other.

Usually Iroh made the first move, but this time Mako shot first.

Mako slashed his left hand across his body and a whip of fire followed the movement. 

Iroh bared his teeth as he rolled under the flames.

The fight was on and Mako planned to win again.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you guys liked it and please note I've only stepped into a gym maybe twice in my life.


End file.
